Bloodlines of the Ancient Pantheons

Chapter 618: DCXVIII. The Hlidskjàlf

Dag's soul, as if it had just separated from his body, was fired at great speed over the window, passing the glass and exiting the tallest tower of the Vlaskjlf.

Flying at incredible speed, Dag managed for a few moments to look around, noting that he had already overcome all the city of Asgard, leaving it behind him.

As if he was a small meteor, his ethereal and invisible body swooped towards Skjold, barely visible from the height where Asgard was, impossible for anyone to reach.

Taking a final look at the floating city, Dag noted that the Bifrost, the sacred rainbow bridge, was broken: the enormous fractures that plagued it for many years were blackened and imbued with a strange purple substance, very similar to the dark matter.

The indestructible bridge connecting the sky to the earth, Asgard to Skjold, had been destroyed by the Xis. 

With bitterness in his heart, Dag tried not to be distracted by that horrible vision and continued his quick journey home, materializing Jernhest's memories in his mind and trying to imagine what was going on on his farm.

In about ten seconds, crossing the clouds and passing through a flock of birds, who did not even notice the presence of his ethereal body, Dag arrived above the capital of Okstorm, stopping in mid-air.

"The farm... mom, I'm coming to you!" he thought, who could not believe that in such a short time he had managed to travel all that distance and that he was witnessing real-time events.

In the twinkling of an eye, he passed the walls of the city, traveling without ever stopping to his beloved hill, the slopes of which led him for years to the Arena where it all began.

When the farm was finally visible, Dag catapulted himself into it and what he saw was so beautiful that it moved him.

His mother Asa was there, in the same place she was the last time they had met: sitting on her squeaky wooden stool, the woman who had previously been one of the strongest Shieldmaiden ever was now milking her beloved cows, stroking them and taking care of them.

Some of the animals Dag loved to play with as a kid were gone and one of the two fences had become partly a store of wood and other groceries.

The house did not seem to have changed at all, remaining the small and modest dwelling ever.

Seized by a sense of deep love for Asa, Dag got even closer, stopping less than a meter from her, sitting by her stool, on the grass.

His mother's face was marked by the advancing age and obvious wrinkles stretched from the side of her eyes to the top of her cheeks, without changing her gentle beauty.

A braid of white hair fell on her shoulder, dangling in front of her brown linen robe.

"If you only knew how much I miss you, Mom..." he whispered as if his mother could hear him.

After about a minute spent watching Asa intensely as she filled a large bucket of warm milk, Dag followed her inside the house, curious to see how she behaved. 

He quickly noticed that the front door to the 'secret' room, the one in which the Red Executioner was located together with all Brann and Asa things, was closed.

When she lay the bucket of milk next to two other identical buckets, she leaned on her knees and got up with difficulty, heading for the bedroom.

Dag followed her again, knowing that Odin would allow him to stay there for a few more minutes.

Unexpectedly, none of that room had changed over time: in addition to the double bed on which she and Stein slept, the other three small beds had never been moved.

Like every morning, Asa spent her time tidying up the room and tidying up the beds, only one of which was used by Eirik, who despite being 1.80 m tall, kept sleeping on the bed he used as a child, about 1.60 m long.

The bed closest to the door and the one next to it instead, were those of Dag and Gridd. 

With tears unintentionally starting to flow from his eyes, he continued to watch his mom caress the sheets of his bed, sitting on it, as if it was ready by the time her children finally returned to the farm, despite knowing that by now their lives had led them very far from Jernhest, making them part of a totally different reality.

Dag approached her and, without thinking about it, tried to put a hand on the woman's shoulder: his hand passed through her body and Asa did not notice his presence, continuing to caress the bed of the youngest of her children with her eyes closed, as if she was praying for him.

"You don't know anything about what happened, do you, Mom? I think Gridd hasn't come to you yet to tell you our story... if only you knew that we were able to reach Krypstorm, one of the places dad had dreamed of seeing since he was a child... my sister will come back and explain everything to you... I too will come back and I will be able to hug you once again... I miss you so much..." Dag whispered, continuing to think aloud and leaving room for his most hidden emotions, giving free rein to every sensation he was feeling at the time, knowing that this was the only opportunity to be close to his mother and that his adventure would last a long time, preventing him from returning home. 

"Where are you, Gridd? Why haven't you arrived yet? Did King Einar let you go? What happened to Master Egill and everyone else?" Dag continued, who looked at his mother one last time before raising in the air and crossing the roof of his farm, catching a glimpse of Eirik's carriage approaching in the distance.

His brother had not changed at all: his physique was even more robust and his face was very similar to Stein's, characterized by very marked lineaments and a squared jaw, covered entirely with a beard.

Above the coach pulled by a single horse, kilos and kilos of cut wood were stacked and neatly arranged, as his father had taught him since he was a child. 

The lumberjack's work, though modest, had allowed Eirik to take care of his mother, while Dag and Gridd had preferred to live more rich and combat-based lives, choosing to enter two different Clans and move away from Jernhest.

"Thank you too, Eirik, for taking care of her from the day Stein died. I will be able to reward you properly, go home and bring you many gifts, including a new horse and a new carriage for your work. See you soon" he whispered again, as his ethereal body continued to rise towards the clouds until the farm became just a dot on its modest hill.

After visiting his mother and brother, Dag flew at great speed to Gurn, the port of Runar region, knowing that King Einar's ship, with all the Golden Army and his friends on board, had certainly docked there.

As if it was a comet, he traveled hundreds and hundreds of kilometers in seconds, passing by the peaks of some of Okstorm's highest mountains, which grazed him without ever touching him, disappearing on the horizon as he passed them.

All he had to do was think of a particular place to travel to it, just as the Alfather had explained to him.

The sunset light still reigned over the moors of the western nation when the young warrior, whose body was sitting on the Hlidskjlf, arrived at the small port of Gurn.

Several ships were moored at its pier, including the small Brass Arrow, which looked even smaller next to a colossal boat, larger than the Iron Emerald.

It was covered in gold on an entire side and had three large sails furled and rolled around three masts arranged in a row on the main deck.

There was no one on board, but many of the harbor hubs were intent on cleaning the outer surfaces, polishing them to perfection.

Dag immediately realized that it was the boat King Einar had used to reach Krypstorm and the mere fact of seeing it moored at Gurn harbor without a scratch allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.

"If the ship is here, it means that Gridd, Karl, Egill, Sander, Kjell, and all the others who were forced to come back, arrived safely, or at least, so I believe..." Dag thought, flying down to the dock and noting that old Frank was directing the cleaning work of his majesty the King's ship.

Beyond him and all the men engaged in looking after the ship as if it was a rare item, the port was almost deserted: Dag's first thought was to check inside the stable, to verify that his horse was still where he had left him.